Method and apparatus for dressing a railroad track bed



May 1, 1951 G. T. DONAHUE 2,550,979

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DRESSING A RAILROAD TRACK BED Filed May 9, 1947 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN VEN TOR.

660/26? 2' DONAHUE F 2 :1] BY ja z afticl 9 ATTOE/VFYS G. T. DONAHUE May 1, 1951 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DRESSING A RAILROAD mcx BED Filed May 9, 1947 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN V EN TOR. 650366 2' DOA/Al/Uf y 1951 e. T. DONAHUE 2,550,979

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DRESSING A RAILROAD TRACK BED Filed May 9, 1947 :s Sheets-Sheet 5 INVEN TOR. 650m! 7. DON/(H05 A TTOEIVL Y8 Patented May 1, 1951 UITEED George T. Donahue, Lakewood, 011110, assignor to Frank H. Philbrick, Chicago, Ill.

Application May 9, 1847, Serial No. 746,938

4 Claims. 1

The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for dressing a railroad road bed, and more particularly toe method and apparatus of distributing residual ballast used in the rais his and leveling of the railroad tracks.

It is a comm-on practice, previous to raising railroad tracks, to unload stones orother types cl ballast along the track to be raised. The traclt is raised to the required grade by jacks and then the stone or ballast tamped under the .ties by air power or electrically operated tools, or by the use. of iorks or spades. In most cases, all of the hallast dumped. on the track is not tamped under the ties as it is impossible to accurately gage the amount that will be used or control the a n un ad d- C q n y, a considerabl g ntity of ballast may be left above the ties both between the rails and above the ties outside the rail I s ess ry o mo e his xc ss ba la t end to d st e it u o mly t conl rm with standardcross-section and this has always been accomplished by hand labor, the laborers using either forks or shovels to distribute the ballast. Since the objects constituting the ballast are awkward to handle this hand removal method consumes a considerable number of hours per mile of track.

The present invention has for its object the provision of a method for removing the excess ballast above the tops of the ties, which method eliminates handling of the ballast by manual labor.

Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus for removing the ballast from above theties and to place the ballast properly between the ties in center of track and outside the rails on shoulders of the track at the desiredangle to conform with standard cross-section.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description of a preferred form of embodiment of the winvention, reference being made to the accompanying drawings wherein;

Fig. 1 is a side View of a railroad bed dressing apparatus;

Rig. 2 is a iew taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. .3 isaplan view of the apparatus shown in Fig. l;

4 ,is a view taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view of the apparatus showing one of the sweeper units in an inoperatiue, elevated position; and

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary view of the apparatus showing the manner in which a sweeper element is attached toits operating :member, theyarious relation therefrom by spacer discs 33.

parts being shown on a larger scale than in the foregoing figures.

Referring now to the drawings, I have shown a railroad bed dressing apparatus indicated generally at Hi. The apparatus l9 consists of a car it having flanged wheels I? thereon so that the car can operate on the usual railroad tracks. The car i I has mounted thereon sweeper units i3 and i l, which sweeper units comprise spindles with elongated flexible sweeper elements It extending radially therefrom, and the spindles are adapted to be rotated by suitable power mechanism so that the sweeper elements will be rotated in an arc and moved along the railroad track to sweep or flail the ballast above the tops of the ties between and outside the rails and on the shoulders adjacent to the end of the ties.

Referring more particularly to the construction of the apparatus 19, the car H includes a rectangular frame work made up of two side members 2t and interconnecting cross members 2i located at opposite ends. A second cross member 22 interconnects members 253 and a pair of engine support beams 23 extend between the cross members 2! and 22. The wheels H? are mounted on axles 25, and these axles are journalled to the frame members 2!) by the usual lournalled structures used in the construction of hand cars and the like for railroads.

The sweeper unit I3 comprises an axle rod 26 journalled at opposite ends in bearings 21 which are supported by two parallel spaced arms 28 of an elevator frame indicated generally at 29, whichframe will be described in more detail hereinafter. A tubular section 32 surrounds the central portion of the axle rod 25 and the ends of the section 32 terminate just short of vertical planes at the inside of the rails on which the car operates. This section 32 is connected rigidly with the rod 25 and maintained in concentric, spaced 34, similar to sections 32 but shorter, are attached to the outer ends of the axle rod 26 in a manner similar to the attachment of the section 32 to the axle rod. The sections 32 and 34 each have a plurality of sweeper elements in the form of resilient flexible tubes l5 attached thereto, and referring more particularly to Fig. 6, there is shown a fragment or" the section 32, showing the method by which the sweeper elements H are attached to the sections. In the present form of the invention, a short tubular member 35, having a peripheral flange 36 is attached to the outside of the section 32 by welding the flange 36 to the section. The outside diameter of'member 35 is Sections 3 approximately the same as the inside diameter of the tubular member l5 and the member I5 is fitted over the projecting member and a bolt 38 is extended through registering openings in the element 55 and member 35. The bolt 38 is secured by a nut 35 threaded on the end thereof. Preferably, the sweeper elements [5 are each formed of a short section of tubular hose, and we have-found that short sections of discarded air hose are suitable for the purpose. Preferably, the sweeper elements i5 are arranged about the sections 32 and 54 in offset relation so that as the sections are rotated about their axis, the successive elements 55 which engage ballast lying above or below the ties will be offset outwardly from the center of the road bed slightly from the succeeding sweeper element so that ballast engaged by the sweeper elements will tend to be propelled laterally from the center of the railroad bed. This arrangement may be noted in Fig. 3 of the drawings, for example. The portion of the sweeper unit l3 formed by section 32 is adapted to sweep the ties at the portions intermediate the rails and the portions of the sweeper unit formed by sections 34% are adapted to sweep the portions of the ties on the outside of the rails.

Referring again to the elevator frame 29, this frame comprises the two parallel arms 28 which are joined at one end by a cross member 40. Each of the arms 28 are reinforced by a triangular structure 4!. The arms 25 are pivotally supported by two shafts 44 and 45 which are supported in axial alignment with one another on the frame work of the car H. These shafts are journalled at their inner ends by bearings 46 and 41 respectively, which bearings are mounted on posts 43, as may be seen in Fig. 2, which posts are supported on the frame members 23. Bearings as and 49 support the central portions of the shafts 414 and 45, respectively, and these bearings are each supported by brackets 50, respectively, connected to the frame members 20 of the car Ii. The sides of the frame 29 are journalled on the ends of the shafts 44 and 55 respectively by bearings 53 which are suitably attached to the structure 4! of the frame 29. It will be apparent that the frame 29 may be pivoted about the axis of the aligned shafts 44 and 45 to raise and lower the sweeper unit l3 relative to the track.

The frame 29 is operated to elevate and lower the sweeper unit lit by a tubular member 55 connected to the cross member 46 and which is threaded internally for receiving a threaded rod 55. The rod 55 is rotatably supported in a bushing 51 attached to an end rail structure 58 mounted to the frame of the car II. A hand wheel 59 is attached to the upper end of the rod 56 for rotating same. Preferably the rail 58 is braced by a rod 58 extending from the rail to the opposite end of the car. It will be obvious that as the rod 56 is rotated the threads of the member 55 and rod 56 cooperate to raise or low,- er the right hand end of the frame 29 and thereby tilt the frame about its supporting axis to lower and raise, respectively, the sweeper unit l3. It will be understood that the member 55 is attached to the cross member of frame 29 so that it may swing relative to member but it is attached in such a manner that it cannot rotate about its own axis.

As may be seen in Fig.1 of the drawings, the frame members 26 have an oifset extending upwardly as shown at 52 to permit the axle 26 of the sweeper unit I 3 to be elevated above the nor- Ill mal plane of the frame of the car. The frame members 20 are also preferably reinforced by bridge-like structure 53.

The sweeper units M are mounted to the car II by a frame work which is supported by two parallel cross members 65 which are attached to the side members 20 of the car frame. At each end of the cross member 55 is a vertically extending frame 56, each of which consists of two upright members Bl pivotally attached at their lower ends to the cross member 65 by pins extending through openings in the ends of the cross member 65. The uprights 51 each have an outwardly extending offset 65 and an upper vertically extending section 89. The sections 69 are interconnected by cross members 10, and preferably the sections 68 are formed of channel shaped iron with the open side facing toward the opposite member 59 of each frame 56 so that two vertical slots are formed for receiving a rectangular frame 12 which slides vertically in the slots. The frame 12 is provided with a vertically extending internally threaded tubular member '13 and a threaded rod Hi extends through the member '53 in threaded engagement therewith, and the rod 74 is journalled in a bearing 76 attached to the cross member H1. Thus, by rotating the rod "hi one way or the other, as by a hand wheel 11, the frame 12 may be. raised and lowered in the channel member 59. It will be observed that the entire frame work 55 may be swung inwardly about the pins 85. The outward swing of frame 65 is limited by brace members 82 which extend inwardly from each side of the frame 65 and downwardly as shown at 83 in Fig. 4. A bar 85 interconnects the lower ends of members 82 and projects beyond the members to form stops which engage the undersides of the cross members 65.

A shaft 86, extending transversely of the car ll, is journalled in the bearings 81 attached to the members 25, and at each end of the shaft 86 there is a universal joint 88 which connects the shaft 85 with a pair of shafts 95. Each of the shafts-95 has a section 9| attached thereto, and the sections iii are similar in all respects to the sections 34 described with reference to the sweeper unit I3. The outer ends of the shafts 90 are supported in bearings 94, which bearings are supported by a bracket attached to the movable frame 72. By adjusting the elevation of the frame 72, the angular position of the sweeper units 14 can be varied, within limits as is illustrated in Fig. 4, wherein the left hand unit I4 is shown in its lowermost position in full lines and in its elevated position in broken lines.

If it is desired to withdraw the sweeper units M from their lateral position to permit the passage of trains on an adjacent track, or to permit the car to pass sections of the track where the clearance is close, the frames 55 may be tilted inwardly to raise the sweeper sections I i substantially vertical, as shown in Fig. 5. The frame 66 may be locked in this position by a suitable clasp i2! secured to the frame member 65. It will be noted that the axis of the pins 50 on which frames 65 are pivoted, extends through the axis of the universal joint 88 to permit the tilting of the frames 65 as described.

The sweeper units are adapted to be driven by an engine Hi5 mounted on the car II. This engine may be of any suitable type, such as a gasoline engine, and the output shaft of the engine is indicated at IOI. A sprocket 152 is mounted on the output shaft I5! and a sprocket I03 is mounted to the shaft 45 in alignment with sprocket I 02 and a drive chain I04 is mounted on the two sprockets. Shaft 45 is provided with a second sprocket I05 and shaft 26 of the sweeper unit I3 is provided with a sprocket I06 which is connected in driving relation with sprocket I05 through a chain I01. A second sprocket I08 is mounted on the axle 2e and this sprocket is adapted to drive a sprocket Ho, mounted on the shaft 86, through a chain II I. Preferably, the sprocket IIII may be connected and disconnected from driving relation with shaft 86 by a suitable lever operated clutch indicated at I III. The chain I I I is adapted to be loose when the sweeper unit I3 is in the position shown in Fig. 1 and as the sweeper unit is lowered to its operativ position the chain will tighten. Preferably, the output shaft IOI' is driven by the engine through a gear box and clutch, not shown, so that there is a suitable speed for the sweeper units. and so that the sweeper units may be driven when desired.

The car II may be driven by the engine I through suitable driving mechanism, not shown, or it could be pushed along the track by a separate power operated vehicle, but the matter of locomotion of the car I I is not essential.

When it is desired to dress the railroad bed, which includes a ballast bed II5, cross ties H6, and rails III spiked to the ties, the loose ballast, which may consist of rock particles approximately 2" in diameter or larger are dumped along the road bed on top of the ties and on the shoulders and then the ties to be elevated are jacked up and whatever ballast is necessary is tamped under the ties. In most instances, there is more ballast dumped on to the road bed and ties than can be used in tamping, and it is necessary to redistribute the ballast above the tops of the ties to its proper location. After the ties have been properly raised the apparatus III is moved along the track with the sweeper unit I3 lowered to a position in which the ends of the sweeper units I will contact the top of the ties or go below the top of space between the ties in order to lower stone to proper height. The units I3 and I4 are rotated by the engine I00 in a direction opposite to the travel of the vehicle, which preferably is to the right as viewed in Fig. 1 and the rotation of the units I3 cause the elements I5 to sweep the particles of ballast above th tops of the ties to the space between the ties and to proper depth. Thus, the ballast above the top of the ties will be removed quickly.

It may also be desirable to dress the shoulders II8 of the road bed so that they will slope at a desired angle, and for this purpose the sweeper units 4' are lowered to the angle desired either stationary or rotated by actuating clutch H0, and these sweeper units will sweep and remove any ballast above the desired level and the ballast will tend to be placed to conform to desired cross-section.

It will be understood that any suitable sweeper elements may be used instead of the elements I5. For example, heavy brushes, brush bristles such as those used in street cleaning apparatuses could be employed.

By my invention the road bed may be rapidly dressed to its standard cross-section and by the reduction in labor required for this operation the expense of maintenance of railway road beds be decreased greatly.

Although I have described but one form of the invention, it is to be understood that other forms might be adopted, all falling within the scope of the claims which follow.

I claim:

1. A railroad track dressing apparatus comprising, a car having flanged wheels for operating on the track; an axle structure carried by the car and extending horizontally and transversely of the track; a plurality of elongated tubular members having elastic, rubbery friction surfaces extending radially from said axle structure, said members being adapted to engage ballast above and on the tops of the ties, during rotation of the axle structure about its axis; and means for rotating said axle structure about its axis.

2. A railroad track dressing apparatus comprising, a car having flanged wheels for operating on the track, an axle structure carried by the car and extending horizontally and transversely of the track; a plurality of resilient elongated members extending radially from said axle structure having elastic rubbery friction surfaces, said members being adapted to engage ballast above and on the tops of the ties, during rotation of the axle structure about its axis, and said members being arranged on said axle structure in stepped relation whereby a spiral is defined by consecutively spaced members leadin from the central portion of the track outwardly toward one rail of the track and a second spiral is formed leading outwardly toward the other rail of said track whereby ballast will tend to be swept from the center of the railroad to opposite sides thereof; and means for rotating said axle structure about its axis.

3. The method of dressing a railroad track bed to a standard cross-section comprising, depositing ballast along the track and covering at least a portion of substantially each tie; tamping a portion of the distributed ballast under the ties to raise the track to the desired level; and then distributing the excess ballast that may project above the tie level of the tops of the ties by applying yieldingly striking forces in a rotatable manner to the excess ballast in a direction longitudinally of the track and progressively shifting the locus of application of such forces longitudinally of the track while continuing the application of such forces to the excess ballast.

'4. The method of dressing a railroad track bed to a standard cross section comprising, depositin ballast along the track and covering at least a portion of substantially each tie; tamping a portion of the distributed ballast under the ties to raise the track to the desired level; and then distributing the excess ballast that may project above the tie level of the tops of the ties by striking the excess ballast pieces with the end portions of a plurality of elongated flexible members revolving about an axis above and transversely of the track while moving the locus of the axis of rotation thereof longitudinally of the track.

GEORGE T. DONAHUE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,409,011 Kelly et al Mar. 7, 1922 

